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Emergency!
Emergency! was a Syndication network action\adventure\drama series created by Robert A. Cinader, Harold Jack Bloom and Jack Webb. The show aired from January 15, 1972 to May 28, 1977, lasting for six seasons & 122 episodes (including 6 made-for-TV movies). It was produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Plot The series centered on the crew of Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 51, particularly the paramedic team, and the staff at Rampart Hospital as they respond to emergencies in their operating area. Cast *Robert Fuller as Kelly Brackett, M.D., F.A.C.S., A.C.E.P. *Julie London as Dixie McCall, R.N. *Bobby Troup as Joe Early, M.D., F.A.C.S., A.C.E.P. *Ron Pinkard as Mike Morton, M.D. *Randolph Mantooth as Firefighter Paramedic Johnny Gage, L.A. County FD Squad 51 *Kevin Tighe as Firefighter Paramedic Roy DeSoto, L.A. County FD Squad 51 *Tim Donnelly as Firefighter Chester B. "Chet" Kelly, L.A. County FD Engine 51 *Marco Lopez as Firefighter Marco Lopez, L.A. County FD Engine 51 *Mike Stoker as Firefighter Specialist Mike Stoker, L.A. County FD Engine 51 *Dick Hammer as Captain Dick Hammer (season one), L.A. County FD Engine 51 *John Smith as Captain Hammer *Michael Norell as Captain Henry "Hank" Stanley, L.A. County FD Engine 51 *James McEachin as Detective Lieutenant Ronald Crockett LAPD. *Vince Howard as Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Vince Howard Production Development "Emergency!" was created by Robert Cinader and Jack Webb. Webb had previously created "Dragnet" and with Cinader had jointly created "Adam-12" (both of which were TV series about policing). In 1971, Cinader and Webb met with Captain Jim Page and other officers from the LACoFD to discuss creating a show about firefighters. Initially, they planned to focus the show on physical rescues, but felt that there would not be enough ideas for episodes. Page suggested they look to the LACoFD's paramedic program for ideas. At the time, the Los Angeles area was home to 2 of the 12 paramedic programs in the United States (as opposed to ambulances that provided only transport and first aid). In 1970, then Governor Ronald Reagan had signed the Wedworth-Townsend Act which allowed paramedic programs to be trialed in Los Angeles County. In September of 1971, Cinader and Webb signed a contract with Syndication to develop the series. The initial pilot film of "Emergency!" (titled "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act") focuses on the passage of a similar law to the Wedworth-Townsend Act that permits paramedics to operate. Cinader asked the writers to get all the rescues that were to be portrayed on the show from fire stations' logbooks. Along the same line, the series was technically accurate as every script was fact-checked and approved by the series' technical consultants, Dr. Michael Criley (the man who had initially created the LACoFD Paramedic program) and LACoFD Battalion Chief, James O. Page. There were always real paramedics serving as technical advisors on set every day for further technical advice. To train for their parts, the actors, Mantooth and Tighe sat in some paramedic classes (although they never actually took any written exams) and went on extensive ride-alongs with LACoFD. In an interview with Tom Blixa of WTVN, Mantooth said that the producer wanted them to train so that they would at least know the fundamentals and look like they knew what they were doing on camera. Mantooth mentioned that you needed to take the written course to be a paramedic, and went on to admit that "if anyone has a heart attack, I'll call 911 with the best of them." Mantooth became an advocate for firefighters and paramedics after the series ended. He continued (as of late October 2014) to give speeches and make appearances all over the country at special events. Legacy Prior to "Emergency!", ambulances had been operating for decades in the United States. However, their crews rarely had training beyond basic first aid. Most states did not license them to perform more advanced medical treatment. The alternative was to staff ambulances with traditional healthcare professionals like doctors, which was expensive and posed recruitment challenges. Writing in the University of Baltimore Law Review in 2007, Paul Bergman argued that Emergency! encouraged the growth of EMS. The conclusion is shared by Yokey and Sutherland in the book Emergency! Behind the Scenes. Bergman acknowledges that some of this trend had already been in motion, due to developments such as the 1966 report Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society and California's Wedworth-Townsend Act in 1970. In 1971, there were only 12 paramedic units operating in the United States. In the first three years that Emergency! aired, 46 out of 50 states enacted laws that allowed paramedics to practice. On a federal level, the 1974 Emergency Medical Services Systems Act was enacted to encourage the trend. By 1982, half the American population was within ten minutes' reach of a paramedic unit. The show was referenced during a debate in the Health Committee of the California State Assembly, during the passage of a bill to make the Wedworth-Townsend Act permanent. A 1977 Newsweek article wrote that "the television series Emergency! helped create a national demand for such services." In a 1993 paper, Byron K. Toma argued that it "helped convince the public that they are entitled to the highest levels of emergency medical aid technologically available." Category:1970s television series Category:1972 Category:1973 Category:1974 Category:1975 Category:1976 Category:1977 Category:Syndication